After last night’s elections, the 15-member Texas State Board of Education in 2013 will feature seven new faces and the return of another who had lost a re-election contest in 2010. Two key members of the board’s bloc of social conservatives lost re-election: incumbent Charlie Garza, R-El Paso, last night and incumbent (and former board chair) Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, in the Republican primary. A third member of that bloc, Terri Leo, R-Spring, chose not to run for re-election.

Over the past six years, the state board has lurched from one “culture war” battle to another, including divisive debates over what students should learn about evolution, climate change, civil rights and separation of church and state. The board is scheduled to adopt new science textbooks in 2013 and new social studies textbooks in 2014.

Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller had this to say about the elections and the board going forward:

“We can be cautiously optimistic that a board with so many new faces will learn from the self-inflicted embarrassments of recent years and focus on giving students an education that truly prepares them to succeed in college and the workforce. An early test will be the adoption of new science textbooks next year, when the board will have to choose between listening to the recommendations of teachers and scholars or to ideologues who are more interested in fighting the culture wars.”